The subject matter disclosed herein relates to a high voltage cable that couples to an X-ray tube and, in particular, to an X-ray tube high voltage connector with integrated heating transformer(s).
A variety of diagnostic and other systems may utilize X-ray tubes as a source of radiation. In medical imaging systems, for example, X-ray tubes are used in projection X-ray systems, fluoroscopy systems, tomosynthesis systems, and computer tomography (CT) systems as a source of X-ray radiation. The radiation is emitted in response to control signals during examination or imaging sequences. The radiation traverses a subject of interest, such as a human patient, and a portion of the radiation impacts a detector or a photographic plate where the image data is collected. In conventional projection X-ray systems the photographic plate is then developed to produce an image which may be used by a radiologist or attending physician for diagnostic purposes. In digital X-ray systems a digital detector produces signals representative of the amount or intensity of radiation impacting discrete pixel regions of a detector surface. In CT systems a detector array, including a series of detector elements, produces similar signals through various positions as a gantry is displaced around a patient.
The X-ray tube is typically operated in cycles including periods in which high voltages are generated between certain components (e.g., when X-rays are generated), interleaved with periods in which lower voltages are being used (e.g., the X-ray tube is not generating X-ray radiation). As an example, in a typical configuration, a high voltage is generated between a cathode, which generates an electron beam, and a target anode, which is struck by the electron beam. The high voltage applied between cathode and anode serves to accelerate the electron beams towards the anode, and the electron bombardment results in the generation of X-rays. The X-ray tube may be bipolar (cathode at negative half high voltage in respect to ground and anode at positive half high voltage in respect to ground) or unipolar (cathode at negative full high voltage in respect to ground and anode at ground). The main high voltage (unipolar tube) or cathode high voltage (bipolar tube), the filament(s) voltage and the bias/focusing electrode(s) voltage(s) are provided to the X-ray tube by a high voltage cable coupled to a high voltage generator. In following, this cable is called for simplification purpose “the high voltage cable”. The high voltage cable includes a high voltage tube connector that couples the high voltage cable to the X-ray tube. In certain imaging systems (e.g., vascular X-ray imaging system), the high voltage generator is a significant distance (often 30 meters) from the X-ray tube.